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Jack of Blades: Actually, 'Parfrida' is the queen's real name---you have already seen who she is while disguised. Who? I won't tell.....yet. It'll be revealed in about three chapters. (Kind of like Spoiler:

Es Cade/Evice

and Spoiler:

Verich/Greevil.

) I always pictured Dragonbreath as foul, judging from its description ("Hits the foe with an incredible blast of breath") and the old quote from Clair when you got her TM in G/S/C: "TM## is Dragonbreath. No, it has nothing to do with MY breath." Eh, guess it can be chalked up to different interpretations. Dragon Claw, however, I would love to see my design used for it in the anime--I love the image of a Salamence blowing fire on its claws then slashing its foe with them.

gladdecease: Thanks for returning the favor. It's not meant for you to understand the whole plot in the grand scheme of things right away; Rich's motivations, Enigma Shadow's plan, et al. I have planned a huge grand finale where it *will* all make sense in the end, though. Adio's confession that he was in on the Wishmaker Tower attack is the first clue......

(Banner by Matori)Beyond all ideals, the truth shall set you free...
Most Recent: 19: The Weight of the World (Part 1)
Next: The Weight of the World (Part 2)

And now, the second half of Chapter Five---where we will break into the news business and meet a pair of rather surprising new allies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wake up, Rich! Wake up!”

Rich groaned then slowly opened his eyes. Rebecca, Anabel, Steven, and Ashley stood over him.

“Wha...what happened?”

“The exit from the computer system did a number on you,” Rebecca told him. “Thankfully, it only knocked you out for about twenty minutes. It appears that the clog in the system has been fixed, but now there’s trouble at the MNB Station!”

Two Shadow Peons guarded the entrance to the MNB Station when the disguised heroes walked up to them.

“Halt!!” one of the guards shouted.

“Who are you?”

“We’re former Cipher members looking to join up,” Rich told them. “My name’s Geftal, the other guy’s Kolax, and the girls are Leden and Jaymi.”

“Wait...I remember you guys! You four worked for Master Greevil on the Citadark Isle project, right?”

“Uh....yeah,” Ashley answered.

“Come on in, then!”

The guards opened the doors, guided the heroes in, then closed them.

“We’re excited to have you on our team....” one of the guards said, then he hesitated. “Wait a second. Something isn’t right here----if Eldes and Greevil turned themselves in, thus voluntarily disbanding Cipher, how could you be in Cipher now? And how did you get our uniforms if you aren't members yet??!"

"Just who are you people?!"

Rich and Steven ripped off their disguises and confronted the real Peons.

Art and Ruko fled down the hall. Before anyone could say a word, strange sounds came from a side room.

“Did you guys hear that?” Ashley asked.

“I did,” Anabel answered. “Want to go check it out?”

“Might as well. Come on, Steven, ladies.....”

The four walked to the room’s door, opened it, and spotted several men tied up on the floor.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!” one of them screamed. “More of those thugs!!!”

“Help!!!” another cried.

“We aren’t thugs!” Rich assured them. “We’re here to help you!”

“Let me get you out of those ropes,” Steven said, then he did just that. The men stood up and stretched.

“Thanks, in that case. My name’s Champ, and I’m the sports guy at this station. Lemme introduce you to our crew. This guy here is Brian, the feature reporter, and last but not least is Brick the weatherman.”

“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Anabel, along with Rich, Steven, and Ashley. We’re fighting those crooks that are holding the station hostage.”

“Wait,” Brain broke in. “The guys who tied us up were ranting about a ‘Rich’ and an ‘Anabel’ that were screwing up their plans. Would those folks be you?”

“Yep, that’s us,” Rich confirmed. “What exactly happened here?”

“Well, they just broke in and took us all hostage,” Champ began. ”They said that they wanted to use the station to send coded messages to their followers elsewhere in the region. Oh yeah, and there was this creepy blue-haired woman with them, seemed like she was the gang leader.”

“She had a really cute little pink creature with them,” Brick commented. “I don’t know what it was but I really want to know.”

“Probably up to the newsroom,” Brian told them. “Uh....wait!! That means Ron is trapped there too!!! Here’s what I want you to do. Take this key.....” Brian handed Rich a key. “Use it on the director’s room door to find our boss, Harken. He’ll help you out. And hey, good luck out there, Rich.”

“Thanks. Come on guys, let’s get going.....”

Before Rich even could finish his sentence, the door opened and Skrub stormed in.

“Not you again! Remember me, from the Academy?”

“Uh........somewhat.”

“Humph. I’ll beat you down so badly that you’ll remember from now on!!”

“Alright, alright, alright! I admit, you’ve defeated me thoroughly. But I shall have the last laugh!” Skrub pointed to a button on the wall. “When I press this, it will activate a lovely little thing we call a TIME BOMB!!!!”

Skrub began to reach for the button, but before he could reach it, he was jolted from behind and fell down. Grubba walked into the room with his Manectric.

“Hohoho. I see I got here right in the nick of time, eh?”

“Grubba, sir!” Ashley said in relief. “How did you know we’d be here?”

“Actually, I didn’t. I got word that there was trouble on this island, but I got hung up on my way here. When I arrived, these two Shadow Peons rushed past me screaming that “fake Cipher Peons” defeated them at the MNB Station, so I came right here and happened upon this.”

“Well, it’s good that you helped us,” Rich thanked. “Problem is, their Shadow Admin is up ahead in the studio. Come on, let’s get going....”

Rich, Anabel, Steven, and Ashley walked out of the room, shut the door, and started down the hall. Soon, another door with the words “Director’s Office” on it appeared.

“This is the door, right?” Rich asked.

“I think so,” Steven answered. “Come on, open it.”

Rich inserted the key, turned it, and pushed the door open. The room inside was dark, and appeared abandoned.

“Hello?” Anabel called. “Anyone here?”

“Sweet Pikachu’s Thunderbolt!!” a voice screamed from behind some boxes, then a mustached man in a red suit jumped up. He clutched a special type of Poké Ball called a Luxury Ball. “Take one more step, you thugs, and Baxter and I will run you straight out!!”

“Ron??!” Rich said, stunned. “Ron Burgundy, the anchorman?”

“Yeah. What’s it to you, crooked dude?”

“Calm down! We’re here to help you!”

“Wait......are you that Rich guy who they were whining like babies about? The one who just beat up their operative inside the computer system??”

“The one and only.”

“Oh dear....!!! Please, forgive me for being such a fool! I’ve been cooped up in here hiding with my boss ever since those criminals appeared.”

“Harken? Where is he, then?”

An older man in overalls stepped forward.

“I’m Harken. Thank you so much for coming to rescue us. I have one last mission to give you.....” Harken handed Rich a card key. “Take that and go to the studio. You must, MUST defeat those people once and for all!!”

Rich swiped the card key as soon as the group reached the studio doors. When the doors opened, the blue-haired woman stood on the other side with an important looking man in a suit. Jimmy’s Manene was off on the side in a cage, mimicking them.

“Fwahahaha!! You have arrived, at last! Come on, make yourselves comfortable....”

The four rushed up to the two and confronted them.

“I’ll get to the point. Give back Jimmy’s Manene and get out of here!”

“Ah, Rich. Do you realize how simple your mind truly is? Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Shadow Admin Karen, a champion of Dark-types. This station had something we needed......” Karen showed them the Pearl Plate. “The Pearl Plate is one of the five Element Plates that we need to awaken Ho-oh, and you hold another.”

“Our queen will be quite pleased when I bring her you in a cage. Go, Houndoom!” “Hahahah, the news guy with the bad suit is going to challenge us on our turf? Castform, teach him a lesson!”

Karen sent out Houndoom, an evil-looking dog-like Dark and Fire type while Wes brought out Castform, a Pokémon with control over the weather.

“That Pearl Plate is going to be ours! Tyranitar, go!” “Baxter, show that Wes Mantooth what happens when he challenges the great Ron Burgundy....who is still number one in the ratings, lest you forget!"

Rich's Tyranitar popped out of its Poké Ball, while out of the black and gold Luxury Ball came Baxter---a majestic Arcanine.

"Rich, Ron, watch yourselves! Those two are both Shadow Pokémon!"

Wes grunted scornfully.

"So you're the Anabel Queen Shadow warned us about. I see Rich can't do this on his own, so he had to bring in an empty-headed female like you. Quite pitiful."

"H-how dare you call me empty-headed! Rich, be the man here and beat them down!"

"The only one getting a beating will be your little boyfriend here. Castform, Shadow Sky!"

A burst of black light shot straight up from Castform's body, then spead over the top of the room like a cloud.

"Time to throw down, Baxter. Body Slam!"

When it jumped and slammed down onto Houndoom, Baxter's immense size only aided the attack---Houndoom took high damage.

"Shadows and darkness will always win out over light........Shadow Fire!"

Houndoom sucked waves of shadow energy into its mouth like a vacuum, then blasted Tyranitar with a dark fireball. Surprisingly, it seemed to do high damage.

"Huh?! How are fire attacks so strong against Tyranitar?"

“It may be called Shadow Fire, but....we’ve made them all a separate type! All the shadow attacks can override all type disadvantages now!”

“That.....is not good. Tyranitar, Thunder Wave!”

Tyranitar emitted weak pulses of electricity from its body. These pulses jolted Houndoom, who became paralyzed from them. Afterwards, the dark cloud covering the room seemed to burst open, letting shadow rain and bursts of light fall on the battle. The bursts damaged Baxter and Tyranitar, the non-Shadows, then stopped.

"No more holding back, Castform! Drop a Shadow Bolt!"

Castform's tiny body crackled as it charged up, then it unleashed a bolt of dark lightning that defeated Tyranitar.

"Tyranitar, return!" Rich recalled Tyranitar, then hesitated briefly. "Now I can see how evil you people really are. Look what you've done to that poor Castform! Its tiny body can't handle doing all these giant attacks you've forced it to!"

Indeed, Castform was breathing heavily and seemed exhausted.

"It's not like any of us care," Karen replied with a condescending tone in her voice. "Pokémon are meant to serve humans. But in their natural states, they are just not strong enough to do the work we require of them. That is why we made Shadow Pokémon."

Rich just gritted his teeth, furious at what he was hearing. He then plucked another Poké Ball off his waist and threw it, sending out Salamence--who was just enough rested from its previous battle to go on.

"Baxter, use Overheat on Castform!"

Flames began to fall out of Baxter's mouth as it reared back. It then charged forward while shooting flames from its mouth, making itself a living fireball. It crashed into Castform with great power, injuring the small Pokémon badly.

"The target is Houndoom! Snag Ball, go!"

Just like that, Rich threw a Snag Ball at Karen's Houndoom. It blew fire at the ball to try and deflect it, but failed and was scooped up. After three rocks, the ball pinged, having Snagged its target.

"You're an annoying one, Rich. Go, Exeggutor!"

Karen next sent out an Exeggutor, a Pokémon with three heads which also resembled a living coconut tree.

"There's another Shadow, you two!" Anabel called.

"It won't be as easy as Houndoom was. Shadow Rush!"

Exeggutor hit Baxter with a shadow aura-powered tackle attack. The elegant Arcanine didn't even flinch, however. As soon as it did, more bursts of light rained down from the Shadow Sky hurting Baxter and Salamence.

"Buckle down and focus, Castform! Shadow Chill!"

Castform took a deep breath and then aimed a powerful beam of dark ice at Salamence. Salamence dodged but the attack clipped its wing and froze it.

"No matter, we're cooking now! Baxter, use Crunch!"

Exeggutor found itself quickly on the recieving end of a powerful Crunch from Baxter. Trying to throw Baxter off, it stumbled over and fell backwards.

"Baxter, let it go. We may want to win, but we don't do it like that."

Rich threw a Snag Ball at Wes's exhausted Castform. It didn't put up any kind of a struggle like Houndoom did; indeed, it may have even wanted to be Snagged. Regardless, it was captured by Rich easily.

"I'm a loser in ratings and in battle........"

"I'll back you up, Wes! Go, Magnet----"

Karen reached to her waist, but discovered her third and final Poké Ball was gone.

"Magneton!!! Where has it....."

Rich laughed at her, then Ron joined in.

"Could it have vanished because you tried to cheat? You know the rules for tag battles.....a champion such as I would, so don't even try to dispute me."

A short old man in a purple and gold cape entered the room, followed by a very tall man, clad in black and red to match his red hair. All eyes fell on the pair......and things went silent.

"I-I......" Rich was in shock. "G-G-Greevil? Greevil and Eldes?!?!"

"It is fine," the old man responded. "Once I was Cipher's Grand Master Greevil, and yes, this is my son and most trusted assistant Eldes. However, we have since moved on from that nonsense. Now I wish to be known simply as Verich once more, the wealthy trader and owner of this station."

"We locked you two up!" Karen sputtered with frustration. "Why are you here?!"

"To stop you," Eldes answered cooly. "Rich, this battle will present no problem for you. My father and I stole the Shadow Magneton from Karen when she imprisoned us."

"Thank you!"

"Gah!! This isn't going to work at all! I guess I'm on the short end of this, so I'll go out with a bang. Explosion!"

A great blast of energy came from Exeggutor's body. The sheer force of this attack caused all three Pokémon to faint, but since Karen had no more left, she had lost.

"This is all your fault, Greevil! Had you not interfered, I'd have won!"

"Not quite. You know very well that I told Queen Shadow that if I was to lead Cipher, I'd not accept her lording over me with Cipher decisions. And it's Verich, thank you."

"Whatever! Rich, take this thing already!"

Karen flung the Pearl Plate at Rich, then fled with Wes. Rich picked it up, looked at it, and put it in his bag.

"Thank you," Anabel said gratefully. "But why?"

"Well, Eldes and I wanted to lead quieter lives after we were defeated two years ago so we sailed down to these islands and bought this station. The frightening fact is, Enigma Shadow has had a paid hit on me ever since the XD001 debacle. You see, Cipher was nothing more than an alias for Enigma Shadow's operations in Orre. The first incarnation, I don't know, but mine was to test the Shadow Pokémon formulas. XD001 was nothing more than the prototype they forced us to make for the ultimate Shadow Pokémon."

Before anymore could be said, Jimmy and Rebecca rushed into the room. Jimmy quickly freed his Manene from the cage, but they were both still in a panic.

"Thanks for saving my Manene, man, but it's all over!"

"What? What do you mean?" Steven wondered.

"There's trouble at the entrance," Rebecca explained. "Chancellor Lawrence's three bodyguards, Pluto, Neptune, and Jupiter, have come looking for you, Rich, because they claim to have proof you were behind the Port Emerald bombings!"

"WHAT?!?! That's false! I'd never do such a thing, and we were on Ruby Island when they occured!"

"I know, man, but we gotta get a groove on outta here before they come any closer. Grubba's fighting them all at once....I know he's got an Entei, but still......"

"We can help," Eldes offered. "Our cruiser is parked behind the station. My father and I can take you all as far as Diamond Rock."

"Let's do it!" Ashley shouted, more fearful than enthusiastic.

Rich, Anabel, Steven, Ashley, Rebecca, Jimmy, Verich, and Eldes all rushed out through the emergency back door.

"You stay classy!" Ron called after them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~

Noland stood before Parfrida in her throne room in the Halfmoon Cove cave......

“There is bad news, Queen Shadow. Very bad news.”

“What?”

“Karen lost to Rich just now at Pearl Key.”

“That was expected. No big deal.....”

“Worse still, Verich has betrayed us again. He helped Rich escape while that Grubba held up the Chancellor’s guards.”

A projection of the MNB Station lobby appeared. Grubba was locked in a brutal battle with the three grunts, using his Entei, Manectric, and Glalie to singlehandedly fight Pluto’s Articuno, Neptune’s Zapdos, and Jupiter’s Moltres.

“This is troubling, Noland. Deeply troubling.......do we know their next destination?”

“Yes, we do. Diamond Rock, most likely to hunt the Diamond Plate and the legend of Black Lugia.”

“Fine, Brandon should be able to handle him adequately. What of the other operations we had going?”

“Hehehehheheh........look at this!”

Noland held up a large blue crystal that glowed with light.

“Is.....is that what it appears to be?!?!?!”

“Yes, my queen.....this is the missing link, the key to powering the satellite.....”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verich's cruiser sailed out on the ocean, away from Pearl Key.

“You think Grubba will be alright?” Ashley worried.

“I’m sure he will,” Steven answered.

Verich shuffled into the room.

“Sorry, but I need to interrupt here. I’m getting bizarre reports on the wire about unusual weather events----Eldes, where’s the remote?!”

“Right here.” Eldes took out the remote and pressed a button, turning on the TV in the cabin.

“This is Ancha, live from Realgam Tower in Orre. The bizarre weather has continued all over the region, even causing evacuations. First we go live to Marcia in Pyrite Town. Marcia?”

“Yes, Ancha, the weather here is completely out of control! It is raining, yes, raining heavily here. This is a region that doesn’t get much rain ever, as I’m sure you know. Experts are baffled as to what is causing the rain, which is falling at a rate of two feet a day. The director of Pyrite Colosseum, Silva, has called for help from Hoenn’s Weather Institute, so we’ll see how that ends up.”

“Marcia in Pyrite Town, thanks. Now to Phenac City, where another bizarre weather event is taking place. Snow. Yes, snow in Orre. A report we have received from Phenac’s mayor says that the temperature there has fallen to 24 degrees Fahrenheit—a record low not just for Phenac City but for the whole Orre region---and that snow has been falling heavily. Evacuations of Phenac may happen quite soon, but Mt. Battle and a 30 mile radius surrounding it has already been, and people are being warned to stay away from the area after a 7.3 earthquake shook the area in tandem with a massive high pressure system causing temperatures of over 200 degrees.....yes, two hundred degrees.”

Eldes turned the TV off, and Rebecca just stared at the blank screen.

“No......if that is true........Verich, can you do me a big favor?”

“Yes, Rebecca, what is it?”

“I need satellite pictures of Mt. Battle as soon as possible.”

“I can do that, so just wait a few minutes.....” Verich walked out of the room.

“Why do you need those pictures, Rebecca?” Rich asked.

“The reports of earthquakes and extremely high temperatures at Mt. Battle is a troubling sign....if the legend is true, it means.......Groudon is awakening!”

“What!?!?!” Jimmy screamed in shock. “Explain to me, so I know where I can turn on the funk and where I can’t.....”

“The legend of Groudon and Kyogre,” Rebecca explained. “in it, it is said that a Groudon sleeps in each of the world’s biggest volcanoes-----like Mt. Battle. When it is about to awaken, the area around the volcano is stricken by strong earthquakes and amazing heat, culminating with an earthquake over magnitude 20, then the mountain will melt and the magma within forms Groudon. If I can get some images of Mt. Battle on my computer, I can analyze their wave energy patterns and compare them to data I already have to determine if we indeed are on the verge of a disaster when and if Groudon awakes.”

Verich returned to the cabin, holding several sheets.

“Here are your images. We will arrive at Diamond Rock tomorrow morning.”

Rich’s adventures on Pearl Key gave him a much deeper understanding of Enigma Shadow’s plot. Adio, his rival, was revealed to have been an agent of the organization when the Wishmaker Tower bombing occurred, confessing that the attack was intended to hurt Rich directly. After beating Adio once again, Rich saved the MNB Station and earned the Pearl Plate by defeating Shadow Admin Karen. Only one island remains, but the danger is increasing. With Lawrence’s bodyguards accusing Rich of bombing Port Emerald, the possibility of Groudon awakening, and the completion of XD-02 at the Shadow Research Institute, Rich will need to hurry to stop the plot before it is too late......

END of CHAPTER FIVE

(Banner by Matori)Beyond all ideals, the truth shall set you free...
Most Recent: 19: The Weight of the World (Part 1)
Next: The Weight of the World (Part 2)

And now, we shall visit the final island in the Metalico chain. You know what that means, right? Soon, we will find out Queen Shadow's true identity---and she will throw down with Rich in a battle for the ages! But first we must attend to some other business, so here we go..........
--------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER SIX: Diamond Rock 'n' Roll

“Here we are, Diamond Rock!” Verich shouted from the deck of his cruiser as everyone on board got off except himself and Eldes.

“See you again!” Eldes called, then the ship drove away.

”OK, Diamond Rock. What should we know about this place?” Rich wondered.

“This is a renowned archeology site,” Rebecca answered. “Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly what it is that’s here. I think you should look for some help.......”

"Hi, Rich! Imagine seeing you here!"

Rich looked around, but it was Anabel who spotted the familiar voice's owner.

Rich sent out Blaziken to battle next. It looked primed and ready to fight, its red feathers glistening in the sun.

"Nosepass, Explosion!!!!!"

Rich looked on in horror as he realized he had played right into Lynn's strategy. Her Nosepass sent out an explosive wave of energy from its body, making itself faint, knocking out both of Rich's Pokémon, but barely damaging the resistant Mawile.

Now having lost half of his team early in the match, Rich sent out Milotic and Alakazam to replace Blaziken and Salamence. Lynn, meanwhile, had a steady air of confidence about her.

"I told you I had been training hard. Get out there, Scizor!"

Lynn threw a Poké Ball, which burst open in a shining flash to release her green Scizor---the evolved form of the shiny Scyther she had caught seemingly so long ago.

"Alakazam, rid me of that Mawile for good. Fire Punch!"

Alakazam nodded, then began to float towards Mawile as its firsts burned with fire. When it drew near, it rushed towards Mawile with great speed and delivered the fiery blow, taking out the Steel type.

"About what I expected. Return, Mawile! Go, Dragonite!"

Lynn recalled Mawile and sent out Dragonite, an orange and tan dragon that towered over much of its competiton.

"Scizor, strike back! Use Silver Wind!"

Scizor reared back, then flapped its wings. This sent shining powder all over, and when the attack hit Alakazam, the Psychic type couldn't take the super-effective hit. It fainted.

"Whaaaaa...........Alakazam, return! Tyranitar, it's all up to you now! Go!"

He was not used to being in this position, down to his final Pokémon. This time, one of the few he found himself losing, it was Tyranitar's responsibility to save the match.

"Milotic, Ice Beam!"

Milotic's long, sinewy body wound around itself as the Pokémon aimed and fired its icy beam at Dragonite.

"Dragonite, counter it! Thunderbolt!"

Just before the Ice Beam made contact with its body, Dragonite directly attacked the beam with a blast of electrical energy. The electricity worked its way down the Ice Beam back to Milotic, who took a great shock---and fainted. Dragonite also fainted, a victim of a powerful attack it was weak to.

"How......how have you gotten so strong so fast....return, Milotic!"

Rich recalled Milotic and gritted his teeth. All he had left was Tyranitar now.

"And you deserve a break too, Dragonite. Return. Go, Sudowoodo!"

Lynn brought out her Sudowoodo, a Rock type that looked like a tree. It had evolved from the Bonsly Rich had helped her save on Port Emerald.

"Tyranitar, Rock Slide!"

Tyranitar slammed its weight down on the ground, kicking up large rocks at Lynn's team. However, neither Sudowoodo or Scizor took much damage.

"Scizor, Metal Claw it!"

Scizor's intimidating claws glowed with a metallic sheen, then it rushed towards Tyranitar and slashed ferociously.

"Finish it off, Sudowoodo! Low Kick!"

As Scizor came back to Lynn, Sudowoodo rushed forth and slid, much like a baseball player, into Tyranitar's legs. Despite the difference in their sizes, Tyranitar was knocked high into the air and crashed down in a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, Tyranitar was down for the count. Lynn had won.

"You already know everything I could ever teach you, Lynn!"

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Whew, I haven't had such a workout in a very long time. You're quite skilled, Lynn."

"Thank you, Rich. By the way, did you happen to come here to see Prof. Becker?"

"Who's that?" Anabel wondered.

"I guess you haven't. He's a scientist who's researching the legend of sunken ruins deep beneath this island. I had come to see him myself, so why don't we go ahead together? His lab's up on the hill, see it?"

Lynn pointed towards a hill in the distance, where a large building could be seen.

"Good idea. Let's get going."

Rich, Anabel, Steven, Ashley, Lynn, Rebecca and Jimmy all set off for the lab, expecting new adventures...........

To Be Continued.

(Banner by Matori)Beyond all ideals, the truth shall set you free...
Most Recent: 19: The Weight of the World (Part 1)
Next: The Weight of the World (Part 2)

Jamie, as her messages were creepy. Maybe even Victoria as she's an expert.

The whole Ron Burgendy thing is funny and original! Who'd thought Baxter would be an Arcanine? Maybe as a Growlither he saved Ron and Veronica from a group of Ursaring (is this foreshadowing?) Oh and zezrek5, that review you gave is considered SPAM. List improvement points, not simply "OMG IT WAS SOO GOOD! 10/10!" or something like that.

Your image was too big. Read the rules before you add anything new to your sig.

Hi Great Butler! You reviewed my story "Heart of the Sea" so I shall return the favor. So far the story is looking good. Yeah, I believed there should be a little more description when doing the battling scenes, but other then that it's fine. Like Lightkeeper said eariler, different people will expect different things from the story. In your case, your story doesn't really need the literature elite type of decription as this story is more advanture/action then romance/drama. (Well, maybe this story has some drama). I am not saying that action/adventure or any other types of stories have no description. Of course all types of stories need some good amount sort of description. What I am saying is that description will be used in different types of stories and how you use the description. In poetry, you might use description to describe an object as an metaphor of some sort or might use description in romance stories to describe how much the two people are in love.
This story reminds me of the novel The Da Vinci Code. That book may not have the best description in the world but it has a hooked plot and also a good theme in it also. I can't wait for the next chapter! (Sorry if this is not making any sense Great Butler. If there is something you don't understand, then ask me and I will probably explain it better).

Heheheheh, yeah, I loved doing the Anchorman parody in Five too. It just flowed so naturally. And as a little tidbit, Brick (the weatherman) has a Castform himself that will make a cameo in a little while. And that's not the only movie I wrote into it: I'm sure you found the Star Wars references, Miror B. and Jimmy are ripped straight from Saturday Night Fever (not to mention Jimmy's character came easily right from WarioWare) and I dropped a reference to "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" at the end of Chapter Four (great movie, but very, very R-rated)

Now, enough with my goofy film references....and back to Chapter Six!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

When the group finally reached the lab, they were exhausted. Lynn rang the doorbell.

“Yes, who is this?” a voice said through the PA.

“I’m a trainer with some of my friends, and we’d like to see the professor....”

“Fine. Come in.” A bell rang, then the doors slid open and the group entered. A muscle-bound man in a lab coat sat behind the desk inside. “Welcome. Your names?”

“Rich.”

“Anabel.”

“Steven.”

“Ashley.”

“Lynn.”

“Jimmy.”

“Rebecca.”

“Hmmm? Those names do sound familiar. Perhaps the professor was talking about them. Anyway, my name is Rick, and I’m Becker’s assistant. He’s in the main lab on the second floor now, but I can’t let you go up there....sorry. Do feel free to look around down here, though.”

“Thank you,” Rich replied, then the group walked away from the desk and to a bench a bit away.

“Hey, Rich.....” Rebecca whispered when they sat, “doesn’t that guy seem a little....unusual?”

“How so?”

“How many scientists have you seen looking like the World’s Strongest Man runner-up?”

“Haha, good one. You want to try distracting the Terminator over there now?” Steven teased.

“Calm down, all of you!” Rebecca scolded. “I have an idea.......” Rebecca tapped some keys on her computer, put in a floppy disk, waited a moment, and took it out. “Music. Soothes the savage beast, even if it’s old 80’s stuff. Watch and learn.”

Rebecca got up and walked over to Rick’s desk.

“Hi, I think you might like this.” She slipped him the disk.

“Hm? What is this?” Rick put the disk into his computer, and the music started playing. “Aw, cool!”

Rebecca then waved her hand at the others, signalling them to go while they could. They did, running onto the stairs. Rebecca went last, and no one spoke until they were at the top.

Finding the lab wasn’t hard, as its huge double doors stuck out, not to mention it was the only room on the floor. When they went in, they found an-important looking man in a black lab coat stnading near a number of machines.

“Oh, visitors? I thought I told Rick to not allow visitors now, but since you’re already here, welcome. Name’s Becker, and research is my game.”

“I’m Rich and these are my friends. I’m sure you know us, the ones who’ve been fighting Enigma Shadow.”

“Oh, those people are you? I must admit, I expected you to be tougher looking.”

Suddenly, Rick broke into the lab.

“I told you no one could come up here!!! You idiots just don’t listen!!!!!”

“Rick, calm down. They can’t do anything anyway.......”

Out of nowhere, a sound of gasping came from one of the machines, and two other scientists, one brown-haired and one red-haired, fell out of it. Broken ropes fell on the floor around them.

“What?!” Lynn shouted. “What is all of this?”

“Help us!!!” the brown-haired scientist screamed. “These thugs came and tied us up, then posed as us! I’m the real Prof. Becker!”

“Grrr!” the fake Becker snarled. “Rick, come. It’s fight time!”

Rick stood next to the thug, who revealed himself as Donald, the Shadow Peon from the Ruby Island casino.

Rich used Salamence, and Lynn sent out a large black-and-white snoozing Snorlax---which had evolved from her old Munchlax.

"That's a Shadow Luvdisc!" Anabel called.

"I suspected as much. Salamence, Hydro Pump!"

Salamence took a noticeably deep swallow---it was used to breathing fire---and then aimed a powerful jet of water from its maw at Graveler. Just before it made contact, Graveler rolled away to dodge.

"Luvdisc, Shadow Panic!"

A cloud of darkness surrounded Luvdisc. Blowing air by 'kissing' with its mouth, Luvdisc cast this cloud toward its opponents, where it burst into two rings of shadowy stars. Salamence fell under their power and became confused, but Snorlax was unaffected.

"Snorlax! Use Earthquake!"

Snorlax yawned, calmly stood up (it was very tall standing up) and crashed down forward into the ground, creating a shock wave. Salamence just flew over it, Luvdisc took a crushing impact, and Graveler fainted from the blow.

"Guhhhhhhhh.......I lost?"

"Yes you did, idiot! Now I have to do this myself!"

"Heh. I expected no less from you, Lynn. Snag Ball, go!"

Rich threw a Snag Ball at the weakened Luvdisc. As one could expect, Snorlax's attack had damaged it considerably, and the Snag was easily done.

"With all the Admins you've beaten, I don't even stand a chance......"

"Tell you what," Anabel suggested, half sarcastically. "Just send out that Shadow Chimecho I know you have and get it over with."

"I have more than just my Chimecho, girl. Go, Jumpluff!"

Donald sent out a Jumpluff, much to the surprise of the heroes.

"It's a Shadow Jumpluff, Rich......he must've taken it from the woman who had it originally."

"It's no big deal."

"Jumpluff, make me believe that stealing you wasn't a waste. Shadow Rush!"

A dark cloud surrounded Jumpluff, then it slammed into Salamence. The dragon roared in pain from the surprisingly strong blow, but Rich did not appear worried.

"It's alright. Lynn, go ahead and attack."

"OK. Snorlax, Body Slam!"

Snorlax stood up again and slammed its massive bulk down onto Jumpluff. The Grass and Flying type was nearly crushed flat.

"Good, good. Snag Ball, go!"

Jumpluff was the target of the Snag Ball this time, and like Luvdisc earlier, went without much of a fight.

"Nooooo......."

"NOW you can listen to me and bring out the Shadow Chimecho."

Donald nodded sadly and brought out his final Pokémon, his Shadow Chimecho.

"Salamence, Dragon Claw!"

Salamence began to breathe fire on its claws in preparation for a Dragon Claw strike, but slipped in its confusion and fell, hurting itself slightly.

"Hohohoho! Perhaps we have some fight left yet. Chimecho, Shadow Break!"

Waves of shadow energy coursed into Chimecho's body as it tensed up. Then, in a burst of powerful energy, Chimecho blasted forward and smashed into Snorlax.

"Body Slam! Fight back!"

Snorlax towered over Chimecho and fell forward onto it. After nearly crushing a second opposing Pokémon Snorlax rolled over, showing that it had Chimecho badly damaged and stuck to its stomach.

"This is it! Snag Ball, go!"

The match's third Snag Ball was for Chimecho, and like the other two, it was Snagged easily.

"Of course. My jobs are much too hard........."

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Awww. Come on Rick, let’s get out of here!”

Donald and Rick fled the lab, then the real Becker and his aide approached the group.

“Diamondopia is a ruined ancient city said to be deep under this island, partially submerged.”

“Few believe it really exists,” Russ added, “but Prof. Becker and I do. We’ve been wanting to mount an expendition into the Sea Cavern, where we think the city is, but we don’t have sufficient staff on the project.”

“That’s why I came here, at least,” Lynn said. “I want to go down there and explore.”

“Hmmmmm.....” Becker answered, deep in thought. “It’s quite dangerous. I’m not sure I should allow you down there.”

“I’m sure you can figure out a way,” Anabel insisted.

“You know, boss......we DO have those Air-Cell Compressors.....”

“You’re right! During our research, we invented an oxygen system that can provide up to 5 straight hours of air using a tiny tank that can be attached simply to your arm. However, we only have three of them, so that means you’re going to have to decide who goes in......”

The four heroes, Lynn, and Rebecca discussed the matter quietly, then came up with a decision.

“I’m going to go in with Rich and Anabel,” Lynn decided.

“Are you sure?” Becker asked. “Do all of you agree?”

The others nodded in agreement.

“We’ve decided to stay here and help guard the lab,” Steven volunteered.

“Excellent. Russ, go fetch the Air-Cell Compressors and meet us by the Cavern entrance.” Russ left the lab. “One other thing, you need some Water Pokémon to help you.”

“I know,” Rich suggested. “I have a Milotic and Anabel has a Kingdra. Lynn and I can ride on Milotic, since it has a long body, and Anabel can take her Kingdra.”

“Fine, that’ll do. Wait, is that a Snag Machine and a PokéNav?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Give them to me for a moment, I’ll upgrade them.” Rich gave Becker the Snag Machine and PokéNav. He began working on them, then gave the Snag Machine back to Rich. “I’ve upgraded it, so it has more Snag power than before now. Normal Shadow Pokémon won’t escape easily. Also, I carried over the contents of your PokéNav to the newest model of P*DA. It has all the PokéNav’s features and all the old data that was on it, plus it has a satellite tracking system that can detect where each of you three are at any time in these islands, and, while not as reliable as the Shadow Scope, you can use it to detect the Shadow Aura in case you lose the scope. Alright?”

Rich, Lynn, and Anabel had changed into their swimsuits by the time they arrived at the cave’s entrance.

“Here, these are the Air-Cell Compressors.” Russ gave each one a tiny, water bottle-like device with cords that led to an air mask. They put the devices on.

“Now, release your Pokémon into this small lake.”

Rich and Anabel released Milotic and Kingdra, then the three jumped in the lake with them.

“Good, good. See that large hole down there at the lake’s bottom? That’s the entrance to the cavern. Go down there and just follow it. We detected something at the far end of the caves, so that’s probably where the ruins of Diamondopia are. Oh yes, you will also have one more companion. Relicanth, go!” Becker threw a Dive Ball into the water, releasing a Relicanth---a fishlike Pokémon with bony scales on its body----with a small flashlight and video camera attached to its head. “My Relicanth will serve as your light in the caves, and record what you find for us. Good luck, you three.....you’re very brave.”

“Thank you, sir,” Lynn answered. “Come on, let’s gooooooooooooo!”

Relicanth went down, then Milotic dove down into the cave with Rich and Lynn, followed by Kingdra and Anabel,. They all swam down through the caves.........

“Uh.....” Rich said, confused. “We’ve been going for who knows how long, and nothing.......”

“Take that back,” Lynn replied. “Look!!!”

Ahead, in the glow of Relicanth’s flashlight.......a group of three ruined buildinings. Diamondopia.

“We found it!” Anabel shouted in joy. “But look—two of them are closed. We go into the open one, I guess?”

“I guess we have no choice, eh?” Rich answered.

Once inside the building, they were stunned to discover it wasn’t completely flooded. Anabel recalled her Kingdra, and Lynn carried Relicanth. A strange obelisk sat in the middle of the room, so the three approached it.

“Look at that!” Lynn exclaimed. “There’s something written here.”

“But it’s in some kind of code,” Anabel observed.

“Not so fast, you two. It looks to me like some kind of ancient language..........you know, I bet the P*DA that Becker gave me can decipher it.”

TRANSLATED:
“He who solves this puzzle shall open the way to the adjacent temple.
Solve the puzzle there and open the center temple
And take the challenge of the Black Lugia.......”
================================================== ==

“Wow......hey, now that I look, there IS a puzzle. See?” Rich pointed out a series of tiles around a grid. “More writing too. Perhaps it is a clue to the puzzle’s solution......”

TRANSLATED:
“Black Lugia is the guardian of our city. It defends and protects us from all
Outside harm. Now that we are under siege by the armies of the Enigma Shadow
Empire, it is the end! But Black Lugia will live on.........”
================================================== ==

“Hmmm.......if Black Lugia is still alive, wouldn’t that be something for Enigma Shadow to come here for?”

“You’re right, Rich,” Lynn replied. “But it’s awfully quiet here, so I guess we should go to the next temple?”

“Good idea. Rich, Lynn, come on.”

Lynn put Relicanth back into the water, Anabel sent out Kingdra again, and they departed for the second temple.

“Anabel, you and Lynn would be proud---I actually understand this! The sea and land titans are Kyogre and Groudon, and the sky titan—Rayquaza—calmed them when they fought at the beginning of time. The solution must be to put these orbs in the order of the code.”

“That’s where you’re not quite right,” Rich corrected. “You got the green right, but the other two are a trick. I bet it’s related to the Red and Blue Orbs of Hoenn, where the opposite color awakens the titan and the identical color makes it fight whoever shows that color. Take Kyogre for example. You’d think its orb would be blue, since it comes from the sea. However, it would actually rage upon awakening---as you know, wherever Kyogre goes, heavy storms happen.” Anabel and Lynn nodded. “If it saw the opposite color, that would signify its enemy, so if you showed blue to a Kyogre, it would attack you, seeing it as Groudon’s color. Now, to the solution. First: “let the sea titan rage,” so red goes first.”

TRANSLATED:
“You who have cleared the challenge of the Sky Temple and Earth Temple......
The path is now open to the Sea Temple, where you will have a chance to prove
Yourself worthy in the eyes of the great Black Lugia......
Win his favor and he will bestow many great fortunes upon you........”
================================================== ==

Rich simply looked at Lynn and Anabel, then all three rushed out towards the Sea Temple.

The Sea Temple was the center of the ancient city, and much larger than the previous two. A huge, golden Lugia statue stood inside opposite from the entrance.

“Wow......” Rich marvelled. “This place is gorgeous. But where is the challenge to try?”

“I don’t know,” Lynn answered.

Suddenly, a silver glare came from the statue’s mouth as the Diamond Plate floated out. It went right past the group and towards the temple’s entrance.

“Ahahahahah!!!” a sinister voice laughed, then a man in a safari suit appeared. “Wait just a moment, you ingrates! This is the end for you!”

“Brandon?!?!?” Anabel gasped. “Another one of the Frontier Brains?”

“That’s right! My name’s Brandon, and I was once the Pyramid King of the Battle Frontier!”

“But why? Why are all of you......”

“Fufufu....since you’ve asked, Anabel, I’ll tell you. All the Frontier Brains except you and Greta joined Enigma Shadow. You had already departed to run the Larousse City Battle Tower, and Greta flat-out refused. We could do without you, but Greta......she was.....dealt with.”

“You!!! What did you do to her?!??!?!”

“Heheheh........you’ll see. Same thing is gonna happen to you eventually. So Rich, I guess you want this Diamond Plate?”

“What do you think?!”

“I thought you did. Well, you know, we aren’t going to lose over and over to you. I’m a cut above the Shadow Admins you’ve beaten so far. And now, prepare yourselves to rest in an ancient, watery grave! Let’s fight!”

Salamence overcame its confusion and launched a jet of fire from its mouth at Cradily, further weakening the Shadow Pokémon.

"Hahahahah! Now my power.......Hyper Beam!"

An orb of energy formed in Crawdaunt's claw. It gathered power for a moment, then fired a massive energy beam at Alakazam. Since the confused Alakazam had fallen very close to Crawdaunt, the attack was at point-blank range. Alakazam fainted.

"That's just fine. Take a break, Alakazam. Go, Blaziken!"

Blaziken burst from its Poké Ball and let out a piercing cry, ready for battle.

"Cradily, use Shadow Storm!"

Shadow energy came out of Cradily's body and surrounded it, then took the shape of a black tornado and moved towards Rich's team. Both Blaziken and Salamence took a decent amount of damage.

"Enough of your Cradily's games! Snag Ball, go!"

Rich threw a Snag Ball at Brandon's Cradily. The Shadow Pokémon was scooped up, then the ball fell to the floor.....

rocked once......

twice......

three times. Cradily was Snagged.

"All right! There's a timely Snag!"

"It isn't over yet, not by a long shot! Go, Bonsly!"

Much to Rich's surprise, Brandon's next Pokémon was a Bonsly.

"Rich, that's a Shadow Bonsly....."

"Makes sense then, thanks Anabel. Blaziken, Sky Uppercut!"

Blaziken loosed fire from its wrists as it rushed towards Crawdaunt. When it reached the Water and Dark type, Blaziken delivered an amazingly powerful jumping uppercut punch, knocking Crawdaunt across the room and fainting it.

"It's still yet to be decided. Return, Crawdaunt! Go, Registeel!"

Brandon's final Pokémon was Registeel, the silver and black Pokémon that completed the trio started by Regirock and Regice.

"Another Shadow Pokémon!"

"Hah! It should be obvious. Registeel, Shadow Rave!"

Dark clouds surrounded Registeel, then it launched spikes of shadow energy at Rich's team. Blaziken took rather high damage, but Salamence withstood the move easily.

Salamence flew high into the air, then dropped down like a boulder. When its heavy body crashed to the ground, a shock wave was produced. The shock wave did not affect Ludicolo much, but both Bonsly and Registeel took high damage.

"Snag Ball, go!"

Rich threw a Snag Ball at the severly weakened Bonsly. It was Snagged without a struggle.

Rich threw another Snag Ball. This one grabbed Registeel up, fell to the ground, and........

rocked once......

twice..........

and burst open, freeing Registeel. The Snag failed.

"Ah, it doesn't matter. Flamethrower!"

Salamence let loose a jet of fire from its mouth, severly hurting Registeel. When the flames cleared, Registeel was down.

"This just doesn't work at all! None of us can beat you??!?!"

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Ahahahahah! !! You may have won the fight, but I will simply flee with the Diamond Plate! Farewell, for now.......”

Suddenly, the ground began shaking violently. All looked around nervously.

“B-B-Brandon, is this your doing too??” Anabel asked.

“No! I haven’t got a clue what’s happening!”

A loud cry echoed through the room, then an incredible blast of air struck Brandon, knocking the Diamond Plate out of his grasp. He then just teleported away without another word. Rich picked up the Plate and stowed it away,then the three heroes turned around, and in horror, discovered that the Lugia statue was cracking and its eyes were glowing.

“No!!” Rich cried out. “Is this.......the end?!”

“Rich.....” Anabel called. “If.....if we die here and now, I want you to know.....”

Before Anabel could finish her sentence, the statue exploded. When the dust cleared, a giant creature stood where the statue was. Its massive black and silver body towered over the fearful three, and its large handlike wings extended the length of the room. Its blue eyes focused down on them from on high.

"B-b-b-Black Lugia??!!" Lynn stammered. "Are....are you the one from the legend?"

Lugia roared in response.

"What is it saying?" Rich wondered. He didn't have to wait long to find out.

"It.....it is saying that we have proven ourselves worthy."

"Anabel? How did you know....?"

"Rich, I never told you this, but I have a very special ability. I can talk to Pokémon, and understand their speech as if it were human. This Lugia says we have proven ourselves worthy, and it wants to join us."

"W-why?"

Lugia roared again.

"Lugia says it is because it knows we are fighting Enigma Shadow, and it remembers how it was sealed away by them one hundred and fifty years ago."

"Are you sure, Lugia?" Rich had regained his composure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

“Nascour, how can I trust you fools when even Brandon has lost?!?!”

“I can’t explain it, Queen Parfrida. I really can’t.”

“I would advise you and Regidon to do something about this very soon. I’m warning you, if I have to get involved in this, it won’t be pretty.”

“I understand, your greatness------excuse me, I’m getting a message from our operatives. Hmmmmm........OK. Order testing done at once. My queen, that was Noland. They have completed plans for the Millenium Satellite, ahead of schedule.”

“Excellent. Now get out there and bring me Rich.”

“As you wish.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

Becker, Russ, Rebecca, Jimmy, Steven, and Ashley stood on the shore of a large lake. In the lake was a massive rock.

“There it is,” Becker explained. “That’s why this island is called Diamond Rock.”

“Would they be under there right now?” Ashley wondered.

“It’s likely,” Russ answered. “Our research indicated that the ruins may indeed be underneath the rock.”

Suddenly, the ground began to shake strongly.

“Huh?!” Steven shouted. “What’s going on now?!”

A powerful jet of air blasted through the rock, making it explode. Out of the dust emerged Lugia, with Rich, Anabel, and Lynn riding on its back.

“Yo, man!” Jimmy called. “You groovin’ up there or what?”

“You bet your ‘fro I am!” Rich called back.

Lugia landed on the shore and the three got off. Lynn handed Relicanth back to Becker, who recalled it to its ball.

“I tell you, you kids are the real thing. Did you catch this Lugia?!!?!”

“No, not quite. It did allow me to capture it in a Poké Ball, but it's only joined us because it wants revenge on Enigma Shadow for sealing it away. We will release it once Queen Shadow falls."

“You’re welcome. We would’ve had to go down there anyway, so it was no big deal to help you.”

“No.......no!!!” Rebecca said suddenly.

“What?!” Anabel asked her.

“Look........” Rebecca showed the others her computer, which had a newscast on it.

“This is Ancha live from Orre’s Gateon Port with breaking news! A magnitude 25 earthquake has rocked Mt. Battle, forcing the evacuation of Agate Village and Realgam Tower. Take a look at this live feed we have, from a camera mounted in the tower.....” The image showed Mt. Battle in the distance, with smoke pouring out of its peak. “Geologists are at a loss to explain what caused this quake. Some theorize that a massive eruption, the first recorded one of Mt. Battle in 300 years, may be about to......oh my goodness. Look at that!!!” The smoke had stopped, and the mountain had begun to peel apart like a banana and melt. “Mt. Battle is melting! That’s right, melting! All that’s left now is a huge crater of lava. This has got to be one of the most bizarre natural events to ever occur......wait, what’s this?” The lava had congealed and began to form two gigantic, clawed feet. “Is.....are those feet?” The lava continued to climb, finally forming a gigantic monster with a spiked tail and sharp claws. It suddenly shed the lava, revealing its red skin with black lines. “I don’t know how many of you know this, but that’s a Groudon! The legendary maker of the land!” Groudon’s eyes glowed red, then it roared and began to stomp away. “It seems to be going towards Hoenn, but why?”

Rebecca turned the computer off.

“I don’t believe it,” Ashley said in shock. “This has got to be their work. Why else would Groudon awaken now?”

Before anyone could answer, Becker’s P*DA began to ring.

“Hello? What? There’s trouble in town?! We’ll be there at once!” He put the device away. “A storm has suddenly appeared and is coming towards the town. Let’s go!”

Ominous black and red clouds were rolling in from the sea, and the tension in the air was great.

“What is this?” Becker wondered. “Something terrible is about to happen.”

A giant bolt of lightning lit up the sky. In its light, what looked like a Lugia-shaped aircraft was visible.

“That......that’s their airship. The Dark Lugia! Anabel...Steven.....Ashley....do you understand what we must do?” All three nodded. “We have to take the fight to their turf now. Jimmy, Lynn, Rebecca.....you three should get out of these islands and go somewhere safe while you still can. Inland areas, Johto, Kanto, those would be best.”

“But.....” Lynn protested. “I want to stay and support you, Rich!”

“Sorry, Lynn, but it’s far too dangerous now. Get out while you can. Now.........Lugia, let’s go!” Rich released Lugia and climbed onto its back. “Come on, you three. This has to be done.”

Steven, Ashley, and Anabel climbed onto Lugia, then the huge creature began to fly towards the airship in the sky.

“Good luck, man........” Jimmy trailed off.

The biggest battle yet is about to happen. Rich defeated Brandon, allied himself with a Lugia, and obtained the Diamond Plate. The fight against Enigma Shadow is about to get even more epic, with Groudon awakened and Queen Shadow waiting for Rich. How will this all end?

END of CHAPTER SIX

(Banner by Matori)Beyond all ideals, the truth shall set you free...
Most Recent: 19: The Weight of the World (Part 1)
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This chapter was the one I was dreading, for one reason: Lugia. I don't want for Rich to become a Gary Stu because he has at least temporarily caught such a powerful Pokémon, but the XD-02 Shadow Pokémon would eat his regular team alive if he *didn't* have Lugia. So you can see I'm in a bit of a jam, actually quite a large one.....the original form had him battling Lugia with Milotic and catching it normally, which I realized was completely insane, so I changed it.

Please, do not look at this as a bad fic with a Gary Stu main character because of this one chapter. I do not intend to abuse Lugia like many Stu-fics do with their Legendaries----it'll mostly appear only in boss battles and in the eventual Queen Shadow battle.

(Banner by Matori)Beyond all ideals, the truth shall set you free...
Most Recent: 19: The Weight of the World (Part 1)
Next: The Weight of the World (Part 2)

Hey I finally caught up with all the reading, and I must say... this is a truly grand piece of work! Your writing style reminds me of an RPG storyline. Always full of action and shifting from one event to the next. I really like it!

I admit that the begining was kind of slow and I was not all that into it. But as the story progressed and the plot thickened, I really got into it!

There is one thing I would change in some of your battle scenes.

"Alakazam, Salamence, time to go!"

Rich countered Brandon's team by sending out Alakazam and Salamence.

I really dont see why you would need to repeat the fact that Rich or some other trainer sent out their Pokemon. Its not always there, but sometimes it is.

Other than that, I think you are doing a fantastic job on this fic. You have a great vocabulary and exeptional grammer/convention skills. I don't think I found any mistakes.

This comic is getting better every time I read it. I hope Rich will not abuse of Lugia. I liked the facts of the puzzles and the underwater civilization. So, all the frontier brains except two are evil, I always hated them ( I could never win to them except to Lucy). I think that Regidon is Spoiler:

Like Yoshi said, this is getting better and better! Hum, I wonder what happened to Greta? Anyways, I liked the way you put the puzzles in that last chapter. Puzzles are always fun! (But stressfull too!) Also, in your eariler post, I do not think Rich would be a Gary Stu because of him having Lugia. Like you said, it is only for a little bit. It just depends how well you control your characters and also using them well, wheter it be human or Pokemon. I do not mind a story with legendaries but it cannot be like that trainer magically got that legendary and then used it to win a Pokemon League. It has to be more like the way you did it, used it for some type of purpose. One good example of how to use a legendary properly, if you do not want to be too criticized, is the fanficton "Clockrow". There are different ways a legendary Pokemon can be used in stories but it all depends what purpose that legendary Pokemon has in the story and if you will abuse it too much. It would be nice to see Milotic battling against Lugia like you said in the eariler post, but I guess there will be some poeple who willl be mad of that scene. So how many more chapters to go?

Well, let's add up the chapters. We just finished with 6, so (trying to recall offhand) four or five more. Much of what's left will be battles with the remaning executives plus a few rematches.

I really dont see why you would need to repeat the fact that Rich or some other trainer sent out their Pokemon. Its not always there, but sometimes it is.

Point taken. When I work on Seven (I may even be able to get it up tonight) I'll try this and see how it looks.

This comic is getting better every time I read it. I hope Rich will not abuse of Lugia.

Don't worry about that at all. The last thing I would do is something along the lines of "OMG I caught a Lugia use Aeroblast KO everything!!!!" You might even see Lugia *lose* some matches.

I liked the facts of the puzzles and the underwater civilization.

I liked doing that, too. To do those, I simply typed out the phrase I wanted in English then ran it through MS Word's translator to get it in Greek. Yes, Greek was the language the puzzles were written in.

I think that Regidon is Spoiler:

Chancellor Lawrence

and Parfrida is Spoiler:

Jamie or Prof. Ivy

I'm not telling yet, but I do encourage guesses---they show that people are reading and paying attention, which in turn makes me want to work harder to make it even better.

You just wait 'til Queen Shadow's true identity is revealed. Your jaws will all drop in surprise, I guarantee it........heheheheh.

I do not mind a story with legendaries but it cannot be like that trainer magically got that legendary and then used it to win a Pokemon League. It has to be more like the way you did it, used it for some type of purpose.

Yeah. I was rather nervous how it would go over, but I thankfully came up with a meaningful backstory for Lugia that helped it.

It would be nice to see Milotic battling against Lugia like you said in the eariler post, but I guess there will be some poeple who willl be mad of that scene.

That scene was written long before Anabel's appearance in the anime. That episode saved my bacon by giving her the ability to talk to Pokémon, which allowed me to re-write it and make it better.

(Banner by Matori)Beyond all ideals, the truth shall set you free...
Most Recent: 19: The Weight of the World (Part 1)
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Okay, I decided to read this, and . . . THIS IS GREAT. Great plot, awesome choice of Pokemon, and the likes. I think Regidon is Spoiler:

Lawrance

and I think Queen Shadow is Spoiler:

Victoria (The one who told them about the legends).

Why? I'm weird like that. Scratch that, Parfrida is a talking Jynx! J/K What? It's supposed to make my jaw drop! And what's with Lawrance's assumpyion/prediction/thingamabober? (The one that said Rich has feelings for someone(something like that))

And now........the plot thickens as identities are revealed and dark pasts are brought to light........

------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER SEVEN: A Sky-High Showdown

Any normal craft would have been useless in the storm, but Rich's Lugia was tough enough to make it through. With its four passengers holding on to its back for dear life, Lugia fought the punishing winds and rain on its way to Enigma Shadow's airship. This would not be an easy trip. The airship was designed to look just like a black Lugia, making it hard to see in the roiling black clouds that coated the sky. Massive bolts of lightning occasionally lit up the sky, granting Rich and his friends only brief glimpses of where they were going. The one thing they had to be thankful for was Lugia's psychic powers----using them was the only way to find the airship's docking port, the only way in. Finally Lugia managed to land inside the port, and the four heroes got off.

"Lugia, return!" Rich recalled Lugia to its ball for a rest, then looked around. "There's only two ways out of this place. One will involve us jumping out the way we came in and will almost certainly result in our deaths. The other is through that door...." Rich pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room, ".....which will surely yield a fight with someone high in Enigma Shadow's ranks. Which will it be?"

"We take the door," Ashley answered confidently.

"Right. Onward we must go!"

The four rushed up to the door, then Steven pushed a button on the door's side. It slid open, allowing them passage into the next, much bigger chamber. This room had a large hexagon-shaped platform in the middle, two catwalks that connected to the docking port's door and a closed door, and finally a new door on the opposite end. Anabel instantly went up to the door, the others close behind, and pressed the button----but the door stayed shut.

"No!" she cried out. "It doesn't work! We're trapped!"

"Wahahahahah! Now how does it feel to be the mice in my trap?"

The door connected by the second catwalk slid open, and Nascour swept into the room. His purple clothes and cape made him just as intimidating as he was the last time Rich and Steven met him, in Larousse. His evil red eyes and wild white hair just contributed to it.

"Welcome to the beginning of your nightmare, Rich. At last, we meet again. I've been waiting a very long time for this."

"I should've known it was you all along," Rich growled back. "I'm going to put an end to this once and for all!"

"Now, now, don't be so hasty. I am extending your life by not fighting you right away."

"Nascour........" Anabel said, rather annoyed by his tone. "Only you could be so bold."

"Thank you. You see, Rich and I have battled before in the past. The last time we met, I sorely underestimated him. But this time, I will earn Queen Shadow's favor by bringing the traitor back into our fold."

"Trait........WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?? !" Anabel, Steven, and Ashley all screamed at once.

"Wahahah! Your little friend isn't all he thinks he is! He's really one of us!"

Anabel gasped and fainted briefly. Steven and Ashley had to hold her up from falling off the platform.

"Many years ago, when I lived in Phenac City.......I....I was a member of Cipher. I was a clueless kid then, and once I uncovered the truth about Cipher's Shadow Pokémon plan.....I fled to Hoenn."

"Even then, you were very powerful. Queen Shadow favored you greatly, and when you defected, she was furious to have lost such a strong agent. As you stand before me now, I can sense your power has grown even greater. I will give you one last chance to save your life and those of your friends. Give in and rejoin us. If you cooperate, I will take you to Queen Shadow and she will render a somewhat merciful punishment on you. If you refuse, I will take you as prisoners by force, and Queen Shadow will terminate your lives. What is your decision?"

Rich tried to answer, but choked up and began crying instead. He did, however, manage to mouth the word 'no.'

"You have refused my offer. So be it. You have ruined our plans at every turn, for many years since you took the first blow with your acts of treason. Since you refuse to cooperate, I have no choice but to destroy you in battle and take you all prisoner. Queen Shadow will not hesitate to terminate your lives once I have defeated you."

"Rich........" Anabel said softly.

"A-A-Anabel...I'm sorry...."

"Don't take that junk from him! Take him down! I believe in you, Rich!"

Anabel seemed to reinvigorate Rich with every syllable she spoke. He stopped crying, wiped his face, and faced Nascour with a renewed air of confidence.

[Nascour's hair and cape waved in the wind generated by a cooling fan]

"This will be a decisive victory for Enigma Shadow. Sceptile and Walrein, go!"

"You may have resorted to dirty tactics to try and break my spirit, but I will win! Go, Alakazam and Salamence!"

As the two teams of Pokémon stared each other down, Nascour chuckled, took something out of his pocket, and held it tightly in his fist.

"Most amusing. How about we raise the stakes a bit?" Nascour opened his fist, revealing a shiny red gem. "This is the Ruby Plate, the only one you do not possess."

"Now what are you babbling about? Neither of us has the Emerald Plate either."

"Oh, what you don't know. Do you have that key you got from Spenser?"

"Yeah......" Rich took out the green key.

"That key fits into the center of the Battle Tower champ's belt you wear. Inside is the Emerald Plate."

Stunned, Rich quickly took the key, inserted it into the center of the belt's golden Poké Ball emblem, and gave it a twist. The emblem popped open, and inside was a shiny green gem. The Emerald Plate.

"Now, my proposal. Whoever wins this match shall obtain all the Element Plates held by the loser."

"You're on!"

"Now, let us dispose with the talk and fight to the bitter end. Sceptile, Crunch!"

Nascour's Sceptile rushed forward towards Alakazam with fangs bared. The Psychic type was caught completely off guard and thus could not dodge the powerful attack.

"Don't put up with that, Alakazam! Use Thunderpunch!"

Alakazam recovered from the painful impact of Crunch, teleported to right behind Walrein, and delivered a strong blow with an electrified punch to the walrus-like Pokémon.

"Salamence, Flamethrower!"

Salamence followed up quickly by loosing fire from its mouth, burning and injuring Sceptile greatly. Even so, the Grass type still seemed to have some fight left in it.

"How amusing. Walrein, Body Slam!"

Walrein sprung into the air---an incredible feat for such a large creature---and smashed its entire bulk down on Alakazam, which fainted.

"Wahahahah! This should end differently than last time!"

"That's what you think. Return, Alakazam! Go, Ludicolo!"

"Ludicolo, hmph. Sceptile, attack with Frenzy Plant!"

Large roots came out of the seeds on Sceptile's back, dug into the ground, and came back up to whip Ludicolo powerfully. This also left Sceptile quite obviously exhausted.

"Brick Break, Salamence!"

Salamence roared, then glided quickly down and smashed Walrein with its claws. Walrein tried to hold back against the blow, but its efforts failed. It tumbled over, fainted.

"This could actually end up being quite fun indeed. Return, Sceptile! Go, Gardevoir!"

"Rich, that's a Shadow Gardevoir!"

"Thank you, Anabel. Ice Beam!"

Ludicolo backflipped as it began charging the Ice Beam up, then it fired the freezing attack at Sceptile. This was a strong hit, and Sceptile fainted.

"I was right when I appraised your skills at higher than before. Sceptile, return! Go, Blaziken! Gardevoir, use Shadow Sky!"

Gardevoir began doing a strange dance as shadow energy accumulated in its body. It then looked straight up and screamed as a burst of shadow energy came out of it and shot up to the top of the room. When it hit the ceiling, it burst into an aura that covered the room.

"Blast Burn!"

Blaziken took a deep breath, sucking in superheated air. After a moment, it used this air to blast Ludicolo with a massive fireball. The impact sent Ludicolo flying, and when it landed it was knocked out.

Salamence flew high into the air, then crashed down to create a shock wave. Lugia simply glided over it, but Gardevoir and Blaziken could not escape. The former took a heavy blow, the latter was knocked out instantly. Nascour gritted his teeth in anger.

As soon as Nascour's Swampert came out, bursts of light rained down from the shadowy aura. They hurt all the non-Shadows---in this case, Swampert, Lugia, and Salamence.

"No more games, Nascour. Lugia, Giga Drain!"

Lugia's eyes flashed with bright blue light, then it began draining Swampert's energy. This attack was four times as effective as it held superiority over both Swampert's Water type and its Ground type. Swampert just fell over fainted.

"N-no.....this is.....Gah! Return! Go, Xatu!"

"Rich, that's another Shadow Pokémon!"

"I am not going to lose! Gardevoir, Shadow Rave!"

Shadow energy collected in Gardevoir's body, then it launched spikes of this energy at Rich's team. Neither Salamence nor Lugia took all that much damage, though.

"Snag Ball, go!"

Rich threw a Snag Ball at Gardevoir. Weakened from Salamence's powerful Earthquake earlier in the battle, it could not fight and was Snagged. More bursts of light then rained down from the shadowy aura, this time hitting Salamence and Lugia.

"Lugia, Surf!"

Using its psychic powers once again, Lugia formed a large wave of water which it crashed down on Xatu with great force.

"Xatu, Shadow Rush!"

The shadow aura surrounded Xatu's body as it flew up and into Lugia, doing a small amount of damage. Rich grinned broadly, sensing victory.

"Snag Ball, go!!!"

Rich threw the Snag Ball at Xatu. Nascour watched in horror as his final Pokémon was grabbed by the ball, which rocked once......

.....twice.......

.......three times. Xatu had been Snagged as well.

"H-how can this be?! Forgive me, Queen Shadow! I can't beat him!"

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Well done, you scoundrel. You have bested me yet again, now allow me to give you your reward."

"Hand it over."

"Oh, I'm not the one doing the handing over. Your reward is the priviledge of getting the Element Plates taken from you!"

All four heroes screamed in terror as a huge magnet appeared from a hatch in the ceiling. It moved to right over Rich and activated, pulling the Sapphire, Emerald, Pearl, and Diamond Plates from his pockets. Once the four Plates were stuck to the magnet, it moved to over Nascour and dropped them to him.

"Y-You dirty cheat!" Ashley shouted.

"Wahahah! Forgive me, but I must be off!"

Nascour rushed out of the room.

"I don't believe it.....I fell for his trick....beating him didn't do a thing....."

Anabel just then noticed some objects on the floor.

"Hmm? Look, Rich, he dropped some things."

Anabel picked up the objects and handed them to Rich. One was a blue-and-white Poké Ball with the letter 'M' on it, the other a small metallic object with a red button on it.

"This is a Master Ball, which I'm sure will serve us well. I'll have to save it for an important Snag. But this thing?"

Steven took the odd object and looked at it.

"I know what it is. It's a remote for a Devon Corp. robotic door! I bet it opens the locked door over there."

"Give it a try."

Steven pointed the device at the door and pressed the button. As he had suspected, it opened.

"Now, let's get a move on."

Rich and the others went through the door and up the stairs leading to their next challenge.........................

To Be Continued.

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Okay, I decided to read this, and . . . THIS IS GREAT. Great plot, awesome choice of Pokemon, and the likes. I think Regidon is Spoiler:

Lawrance

and I think Queen Shadow is Spoiler:

Victoria (The one who told them about the legends).

Why? I'm weird like that. Scratch that, Parfrida is a talking Jynx! J/K What? It's supposed to make my jaw drop! And what's with Lawrance's assumpyion/prediction/thingamabober? (The one that said Rich has feelings for someone(something like that))

Well, thank you for your kind review!

I don't want to ruin too much, but Lawrence's prediction will come into play in the latter part of Chapter Seven and onward.

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Now we move on........Nascour's gone down, but what else awaits our heroes in Enigma Shadow's airship?

------------------------------------------------------------

Behind the Devon Corporation-remote controlled door was a long flight of stairs. These led up from the belly of the craft up the Lugia-shaped battleship's neck towards the cockpit in its head. When the four heroes finally reached a door at the top of the stairs, Steven went right ahead and pushed the button to open it. A surprising sight greeted them.

Standing in the room were Chancellor Lawrence and his silver-armored bodyguard, Pluto.

"Lawrence?!!!!"

"Muh huh huh. I am pleased to see you here, Rich. My initial prediction was right. I see even that fool Nascour couldn't stop you."

"What's going on here? Why are you here?!"

"Oh, you are such a naive child, Anabel. At times I am known as the enigmatic Supreme Chancellor of the Metalico Islands, and indeed, that is how I prefer most people to think of me. But you....you four have discovered the truth. I am......." Lawrence took down his hood, revealing his full face for the first time. "Admiral Regidon of Enigma Shadow!"

"Y-You!" Rich growled. "I know who you are! That jerk who almost flooded the planet to capture a Lugia!"

"How dare you call my master a jerk!" Pluto screamed.

"Calm yourself, Pluto," Lawrence said cooly. "You guess correctly, Rich. That incident in the Orange Islands was my work, and it was an early part of our plan which now is unfolding as we speak. Where did you think we got the DNA to make Shadow Pokémon out of Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia?"

Rich gritted his teeth in anger and prepared to battle Lawrence, but the villanous Chancellor just kept rambling on.

"Ah, the Beast of the Sea......Lugia was my prize.......I was so close to capturing it. Had I done so, my collection would have been complete and this planet would already belong to Queen Shadow......I was so proud of XD001....it was the culmination of all the work I had done to that point to make a Shadow Pokémon completely resistant to purification. But....but it wasn't enough! That fool Krane and his stepson Michael....they ruined it and purified my magnificent Shadow Lugia! But........I am calm now. It doesn't matter what happened to XD001 because it was just a prototype. XD-02 is our new masterpiece. Nothing can stop us once Queen Shadow unleashes it. It's only a matter of time now. Soon....soon she will return......."

"Just what ARE you rambling about?"

"Oh, Rich, please forgive my musings. Just know that your lives are now at stake. You have meddled in our plans too deeply for much too long. Pluto, I will leave it to you to deal with them. I'll be awaiting you in the cockpit."

[Pluto held his arms in the air, and gusts of icy wind burst from the armor on his wrists]

"Go, Ditto and Articuno!"

"So you're playing it that way. Fine. Go, Salamence and Tyranitar!"

"Rich, that's a Shadow Articuno!"

"Indeed it is, and it'll show you its power. Shadow Chill!"

A beam of ice infused with shadow energy shot out of Articuno's beak and hit Salamence. The attack did high damage, and it also froze Salamence solid.

"It doesn't matter! Sorry, Salamence........."

"He wanted it to be frozen?” Ashley wondered.

“I don’t understand it either,” Steven answered, “but I’ve known him for a long time and he’s always done crazy things like that. Funny thing is, they usually work too.”

"Ditto, use Transform!"

Ditto stretched and bent its body, then transformed into a Salamence copy. It looked just like a Salamence, but with a Ditto's face.

"My plan worked! Tyranitar, attack with Blizzard!"

Perhaps it was poetic justice, but it was an attack of Pluto's expert type--Ice--that proved to be his bane early in this match. Tyranitar sent out a blast of ice and snow at his team, damaging Articuno somewhat but taking down Salamence Ditto.

"I get it!" Anabel realized. "He wanted Ditto to become Salamence so Blizzard would defeat it! Very clever........"

“I’ll be fair. You’ve beaten me, I admit it. As your reward, I’ll open the door to the cockpit.....” The door behind Pluto slid open. “However, I would advise you to be careful---my master is exponentially stronger than Nascour and I combined. Good luck---you’ll need it!”

When the heroes reached the airship’s cockpit, Lawrence sat in his chair, facing them with his eyes closed.

“Lawrence!!!”

“Rich.......” Lawrence said blandly, with his eyes still closed. He then began to recite the legend........

“At the beginning of time, land fought sea. The planet was shaken by storms whose power has never been replicated. Most life was destroyed by the bitter battle, which raged for years. However, a small group of people and Pokémon survived in the frigid areas of the north. They were protected by a creature said to be the physical incarnation of the rainbows.......it sheltered them with heat and light. As the years passed and the battle wore on, the rainbow weakened....the people wished for help, and help they got. A purple crystal appeared one day, a crystal containing a never-seen-before creature. It spoke to them.........”My name is Jirachi. I come from the comet....the Millenium Comet.....your wish, I will grant it.....” Jirachi was able to summon a giant green dragon incarnated from the comet’s power. It soothed the land and the sea, ending the fight. To balance the world's elements, the dragon created three golems with the power of rock, ice, and steel. These creatures, devoid of true souls, soon took to fighting amongst themselves. From its perch atop the Sky Pillar, the dragon beheld sadly what its creations were doing, then sealed them all away after a second cataclysmic battle. Finally the world was at peace."

The four stood thinking about this, when Lawrence opened his eyes and stood up.

“This power, the power to create the strongest storm....it has slept for millions of years. What we hope to accompish, already halfway done, is break the seal upon Groudon and Kyogre. We will use this power to destroy the world, that way we can use them to remake it as we see fit. I commend your courage in following me here, but I will not allow a simple person like you to ruin our plans.”

“So that’s your plot? What about the Shadow Pokémon---where do they fit?”

“Ah, I will tell you. Once we destroy the world and just about everything in it, we will need to rebuild from the bottom up. Most of the Shadow Pokémon will be the forerunners, the prototypes, if you will, of a new dark race. Our ultimate creation, XD-02, shall serve as all the military we need. Any glitches in the system will be eradicated, quickly and decisively.”

“Y-you.......jerk doesn’t fit anymore. You evil......thing!”

“Rich, why do you oppose us so? What we are trying to do is a noble undertaking. When the entire world is under our control, there will be peace and order. There won’t be fighting, war, unrest. That is our goal.”

“Peace and order, since you’re going to destroy all who oppose you and create a total dictatorship!”

“Fine. I see that you will not be deterred from disagreeing with us. Muh huh huh huh....yes, that means only one option is left. I shall face you in battle once more.”

“Bring it on!”

“Such a brave trainer. It really is a shame you’re going to die very soon, as soon as I crush you.”

Sweet. I KNEW LAWRANCE WAS PSYCHO! Now, let us watch Rich pound Lawrance/Regidon into the dust with Lugia.

Yeah, since I made his character a very close imitation to Palpatine from Star Wars, it should've been pretty obvious. Not to mention his name and the fact he mentioned he was a collector back in Chapter Two were both taken from "The Power of One," where he was the main villain.

The rest of Seven will be up very soon.

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Back to the action........
--------------------------------------------------------

Lawrence stood still, as calm as ever even though his Shadow Kabutops had just been taken up by a Snag Ball. He seemed confident of it failing......which it did, releasing Kabutops after only one tilt.

"Muh huh! See, while you were busy ruining our Admins, Chief Noland and I were improving the Shadow Pokémon ever more. Kabutops, now show him the fruit of our labor. Shadow Slice."

The shadow aura emenated from the scythes on Kabutops's arms, then it rushed forth and powerfully slashed Tyranitar.

Tyranitar was a tough Pokémon, but the electric shock Banette hit it with pushed it over the edge. It fainted.

"Muh huh huh! I guess I have outdone you in even the area of elegance."

"Do you hear yourself? You're a raving lunatic! But I guess I should expect no different from someone as high in Enigma Shadow's ranks as you. Return, Tyranitar! Go, Lugia!"

Lawrence stared up at Rich's black Lugia. It stared back at him, knowing that the mysterious human before it was an enemy.

"Oh, a Lugia. I envy you for your luck. Once I defeat you, I will take your Pokémon and thus I will complete my collection. That will include the prize I have coveted for years......."

"Enough banter already! Ludicolo, Rain Dance!"

Ludicolo jumped and spun in a very jolly way. This made clouds appear, and rain began to fall from them.

"Lugia, Hydro Pump!"

Lugia's eyes focused down on the Banette. Even though it was a Ghost type, Banette became locked in place with fear----and thus when Lugia blasted a jet of water at it, took the full impact and fainted.

Kabutops tensed up as waves of shadow energy absorbed into its body, then it gave off the shadow aura and crashed full speed into Lugia.

"I hope it works this time.....Snag Ball, go!"

Rich threw a second Snag Ball at Kabutops. As before it sucked in the Shadow Pokémon and tilted once.....but did not break.

It tilted twice......

....and finally three times, Snagging Kabutops.

"So you do have some fight left in you. It's just like a simple game of chess to me......and in all gentlemen's games, some sacrifice must be made to ensure victory in the end. Go, Marowak. And now Dewgong, show him the true range of our powers..........Sheer Cold."

A solid sheet of ice formed in front of Dewgong's mouth, then fired forth at Ludicolo---taking its victim down instantly.

“I can’t say I understand why you are refusing the chance to become powerful beyond your wildest dreams, but...I must say, you have earned my respect through what you’ve done. I will give you control of this airship, you may use it to try and find our other positions. May we meet again!”

Lawrence stepped into an escape capsule, which transformed into a small flying machine, and flew away.

“Whew.....” Rich took a deep breath. “Those three battles were possibly the three hardest I’ve ever fought—and it’s nowhere near over yet.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

Inside the Shadow Research Insititute, Noland stood in his office. A com-link hologram of Parfrida stood nearby, as did two of Noland’s scientists.

“Noland, the deadline has now passed. What is your report?”

“Queen Shadow, I was in the process of getting it just now. Ringo, what do you have?”

One of the scientists stepped forward.

“Chief Noland, the last bits of development on XD-02 are finished. Final adjustments were completed this morning.”

“Excellent. Lennon, how about you?”

“Brain-wave anaylisis processes were successfully conducted. Output is above what we anticipated. We also conducted magnitude tests of the brain waves, and they appear to be 75% stronger than any other Shadow Pokémon we’ve produced.”

“Does that mean..........”

“Yes, Queen Shadow. XD-02 is strong enough to crush a battleship with little effort. Time will tell if we get to use it on Rich or not, but it is all we needed and more.”

“I am greatly pleased with all of you. Noland, once Rich is defeated and in our jails, you shall be recieveing a large salary bonus. As in, enough money to fill every square inch of your lab.”

“My best guess is that he’ll come here---the Shadow Research Institute!”

“Gah! We must stop him there, nothing less! Noland, what is the status of regular Shadow Pokémon production?”

“All quotas have been filled, my queen.”

“Order production halted at once, that way he’ll have nothing to screw up even if he goes there! Also, keep normal staff levels maintained. I want him taken down, Noland.”

“Your trust will not be misplaced, Queen Shadow.”

“I hope, for your sake, you’re right. Get XD-02 out of the lab and into Halfmoon Cove right away. We can’t have Rich ruin our ultimate weapon before it’s completely ready.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, after Steven and Ashley had already unpacked their sleeping bags and were asleep, Rich was pouring over navigation maps while Anabel looked out of a telescope.

“I’ve figured it out,” Rich said aloud to no one in particular. “If we continue on this course we’re on now, we’ll reach New Island and their Shadow Research Institute quite soon.”

“Hey, Rich....” Anabel hurriedly said, “look at this!”

She motioned for Rich to look through the telescope, which he did.

“Ah, very nice night for star-gazing. See that up there? It’s the Millenium Comet........wait.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Rich......?”

“The Millenium Comet just came over about seven years ago, so it isn’t due again for another nine hundred and ninety three years!! They say that if the comet’s normal orbit is somehow disrupted, global natural disaster will result. Perhaps that’s the reason behind all the extreme weather?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it. It’s really the only explanation we have so far.”

Out of nowhere, Rich’s P*DA began to ring for an incoming call. After jumping in surprise, Rich answered it.

“Hello???”

“Rich, it’s Ron!!! Stay classy!!”

“Ron?! Ron Burgundy?”

“Yes!! Wh-what’s going on down here?”

“I don’t know. Where are you?”

“I was walking with my news team and out of nowhere, it started to hail! Not just hail, but huge stones of it! Not even Brick’s Castform can tell what’s happening! We’re hiding under an overturned boat’s hull right-------sweet Slowpoke Tails!! That last one had to be the size of a basketball!!!”

“Ron, listen to me. How far are you from the studio?”

“Uh.....uh....about a block and a half.”

“Have Baxter use Overheat to protect you from the hail, and run like a Dodrio to the station. Do not stop. Just run and get inside the station, then go into the deepest basement you can and stay there.”

“Thank you. I really owe you when this is all over, man. Stay classy!”

Ron hung up, so Rich closed the P*DA. Before a word could be spoken, a loud crash shook the airship.

“Wha!?!!” Steven screamed, waking up. “What was that?”

“I don’t know!” Rich ran to the controls, and looked over the observation screens. “It looks like.....we’re in a hailstorm, too! We’re also pretty close to New Island, so we could............” Another hailstone hit the airship, then a pause, then a barrage began to hit. “Whoa! Whoa!!!! Get control!!!”

“I hate to say this, but.....we’re gonna die!!” Rich shouted. “I have to stay put here and control what we’ve got left, so you three get back into the central chamber where I fought Lawrence’s bodyguard and huddle down!!”

“Anabel, get out! Save yourself!” Rich took off the Snag Machine and handed it to Anabel. “I want you to continue what I started! Don’t.....just promise me, don’t let them get away with it....”

“Rich.........” Anabel stared, then went quiet.

“Landing spot identified as New Island. Impact predicted as rough to severe, evacuate cockpit area immediately.”

“Anabel, please.....just don’t forget me..........”

“I won’t! Count on me!”

Anabel ran out of the cockpit. Once the door had closed, Rich fell to his knees.

“You finally finished the job, Enigma Shadow! You tried to do it four years ago, and now you’ve gotten everyone in my family except Wallace! Are you happy?!? ARE YOU!?!??!?”

“Crash landing imminent. Impact confirmed to be in the range of somewhat to extremely rough.”

Rich stood and tried to run out of the cockpit, but before he got far.......the airship smashed into New Island’s rocky shore.

With all five islands secured for the time being, Rich and friends challenged Enigma Shadow’s brass in their menacing airship. His first opponent, Nascour, revealed the dark secret of Rich’s past---that he was an ex-member of Cipher in Orre, therefore an indirect participant in Enigma Shadow’s earliest operations. After crushing Nascour, “Lord Regidon” was revealed as none other than Chancellor Lawrence, who battled Rich following a match with one of the bodyguards. In a brutal, bitterly fought match, Rich managed to defeat the false Chancellor and wrestle control of the airship from the organization. This victory may have led to the end of Rich, as a freak hailstorm caused the craft to crash into the shore of New Island. What will happen?

END of CHAPTER SEVEN

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Is this the end of Rich? I hope not. Anyways, chapter seven is very good. Did not expect that Rich used to be a Cipher. When Lord Regidon is revealed as Lawrence, I was thinking maybe that could be the same Lawrence from the second Pokemon movie. (Of course you said it in an eariler post). I wonder when chapter 8 will come? Also, just want to know, I was having trouble with this quote:

Later that night, after Steven and Ashley had already unpacked their sleeping bags and were asleep, Rich was pouring over navigation maps while Anabel looked out of a telescope.

Does that mean the guys were outside or in the airship? Sorry for asking that question.

Very good Chapter Butler, a great fight, a great Regidon guess I made (I knew it, it was pretty obvious) and the end of the chapter was very well developed. I thought about the jaw droping real identity of Parfrida last night, and I think I know ho she really is but i'm not sure.

Very good Chapter Butler, a great fight, a great Regidon guess I made (I knew it, it was pretty obvious) and the end of the chapter was very well developed. I thought about the jaw droping real identity of Parfrida last night, and I think I know ho she really is but i'm not sure.

PM me with your guess. I am not spoiling it yet, but I'd like to know what you think. To see if someone's come up with a new idea, if you will.

Glad you liked Seven. Eight's gonna be a big one so I don't know when it'll be up, but I will say......a certain someones identity will finally be revealed........ heheheh.

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